Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup with Homemade Noodles (More Selfish Knitting Chronicles)

If I saw one more photo of chicken noodle soup, I was going to scream. What's a vegan girl gotta do to get some chicken noodle soup respect around here? Well, make her own of course. It's the stress of life at Almost Fifty that forced me into this. I tend to be really healthy most of the time. If I get struck down by something, it's a good indication I've been living on the cusp of coming undone. It doesn't take much, let me tell you. If I were to list all of the things of life that have forced me into this chicken soup mentality of late, you'd be reading my version of War and Peace. I'll spare you.

We here in "lovely" St. Louis are in the throes of a dark streak. Meaning, we have lost the sunshine. And so begins a slow descent into brief bouts of crying for no reason at all, overly sensitive responses to husband's requests/comments/looks or stares, and great needs for canine hugs throughout the day. And chocolate. (Note: No matter how many news stories NPR covers regarding chocolate's "poor industry" practices--they will not scare the chocolate lover out of me. I've concluded that sometimes listening to NPR itself can be bad for my health. SPR: Scare-you Public Radio.)

So late yesterday afternoon, I determined it was high time I veganized chicken noodle soup. I will tell you that to re-create this version for yourself, I don't think it entirely necessary to make your own pasta dough for the noodles, but I highly recommend you do so to get the full effect of the not-chicken noodle soup experience.

I used vegan pasta dough I had leftover from making ravioli back in December. I had a package in the freezer. I thawed it out in the microwave. Sort of leary of the outcome, but pleasantly surprised. It actually worked! The recipe for vegan pasta dough can be found here. If you aren't feeling quite ambitious enough to make your own, then any pasta you have on hand will do. The rest of the soup making is really straightforward and includes veggies, water, dried herbs and whatever vegan chicken you prefer. My choice: Gardein. I heart Gardein.

Once you have your vegan pasta ready (or non-homemade pasta)--add it to the soup base. You want the herbs and flavor and pasta to develop before you begin the last phase of the cooking--which also includes making a slurry of water and flour, and  adding a bit of vegan heavy cream. Unsweetened coconut creamer works well.

I wanted thick noodles in my soup. In fact I wanted a noodle for every spoonful of soup I had. So my soup is pretty noodle-laden.

Before I go to the recipe, I have to tell you about one of my all-time favorite Christmas gifts from Dr. Thyme this year: my new yarn swift! Hooray. 

No more waiting for my yarn to be wound into a ball at the yarn store with other impatient knitters glaring at me from behind! (It's the little things in life.) This thing is a knitter's dream. So I spent another afternoon in the black hole of knitter's heaven that is Ravelry to search for potential patterns for my yarn stash. I happend to have three hanks of Berroco Vintage Chunky in one of my favorite colors: teal. It's really a blue-ish-teal. Not a color I would normally wear and I wondered why I had purchased this particular shade when I pulled it from the yarn stash. (A moment not all that unfamiliar to most knitters--this whole coming home with something for some "unknown" reason other than it must have leapt out at me as "having potential".) I consider pattern searching in Ravelry a sport. It's me against the yarn. And during my search, I came across this: the Iced Cardigan from Knitty. It's big. It's chunky. It's perfect. I started this last night. 

Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup with Homemade Noodles

1 package of pasta noodles (your choice) OR homemade pasta

1 onion chopped

3 carrots sliced 1/4" thick

3 celery stalks chopped

4 garlic cloves minced

2 bay leaves

5-7 baby bella mushrooms sliced 1/4" thick

1 cup frozen peas

1 tablespoon pimentoes

1/4 cup cooking sherry or 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried paprika

3-4 cups of water or veggie stock (or more depending upon desired thickness of soup)

1/4 cup flour whisked together with 1/2 cup water (your slurry)

1/3 cup or more, vegan creamer (unsweetened soy or coconut milk will work)

1/2 stick of unsalted vegetable margerine cut up into tablespoon pieces

2 Gardein vegan chicken patties, cooked and sliced into chunks

vegan parmesan for topping (*optional but really makes it taste amazing!)

salt and pepper to taste (*keep tasting the soup--I opted to not use a veggie boullion cube and instead seasoned the soup to taste--so keep tasting to adjust salt content)

vegan pasta noodles or ready made pasta

If you are using fresh pasta, make it now and have it ready to add. If you aren't using fresh, measure out a cup of the dried pasta and set it aside. In a medium sauce pan, add 2 tablespoons of canola oil and all of the chopped veggies except frozen peas--add the peas at the end of the cooking steps. Saute until the onions just begin to brown around the edges about ten minutes. Next, add the dried herbs and red wine vinegar or cooking sherry. This will cook off rather quickly, when it does, begin adding veggie stock or water a cup at a time. Next, add the pasta. Allow soup to simmer uncovered for twenty minutes or so. The pasta will thicken it up a bit. If you need to add more water during this cooking time, feel free to do so. While soup simmers, prep your flour and water slurry and cook your vegan chicken. After the soup has simmered for a bit, and pasta has cooked, add the slurry to the soup mix. Next, add the cream. You may want to add the cream a tablespoon at a time and taste and eyeball it as you go. I didn't want a super creamy soup, just a thick base with a bit of gravy-looking color to it. Finally, add the vegan butter a piece at a time--whisking after the addition of each tablespoon--helps to thicken up the broth and give it some body. Then add your cooked vegan chicken and frozen peas. Allow soup to simmer an additional 15 minutes or so. My fresh noodles really helped! Season with salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Serve with sliced garlic toasts and a topping of vegan parm. This should cure your chicken soup woes! It's delish.